IS TECHNOLOGY MAKING US DUMB AND LAZY?

Cindy wrote in her blog about how how her parents lament the fact that technology seems to spoil young people today, that somehow teens lose the ability to think when information is thrown right into their laps. As a teacher, I think about this all the time.
Yes, I remember having to get most of my knowledge from books and encyclopedias. My parents bought me a set of red covered Junior Britannicas, and I used them all through middle and high school. It took me TIME to find information. Today, I can get the answers to practically anything in seconds; an impossible amount of knowledge is a keystroke or two away.
Technology will dumb us down if we let it, I suppose. But I truly think that technology is a boon to education. My daughter who is in the 6th grade is very tech-savvy, and I know that if she were beamed back to 1979, right now, she would flourish and adapt, as many of my students would flourish.
It all boils down to work ethic and passion for education. Those students who have both, and leaven it with healthy doses of reading will always do well.